This invention relates to telecommunications apparatus and, in particular, to network interface units and building entrance protector units.
Network interface units are known in the art and one such unit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,440 ('440) of Daoud, and which is herein incorporated by reference. As discussed in the '440 patent, network interface units constitute the demarcation between the customer's equipment and the telephone network. In buildings including multiple subscribers, the network interface unit is typically mounted in a basement and includes an array of customer bridges, each bridge being coupled to an individual subscriber line. The bridges are typically coupled to the phone network through an RJ11 jack and plug so that the customer can plug a working phone into the jack to determine if any problems lie in the customer or network side of the telecommunications system.
Network interface units typically also include a building entrance protector portion which comprises a cable splice chamber and a protector field device for providing surge protection for each customer. The network interface unit typically provides a first level that houses all of the associated circuit components of the protector portion, a second level that houses all of the associated circuit components of the customer bridge and a cover mounted over the second level. This arrangement is plagued with drawbacks such that the cover obstructs the view of a service technician from seeing both levels simultaneously. It is desired to have an arrangement for a network interface unit where its cover is more conveniently mounted so as to allow for both first and second levels of the network interface unit to be viewed simultaneously and to facilitate access to both sides of the second levels so as to ease the maintenance task of the service technician of the unit.